KenB

Hi Bob Just for information: Windows-7 was originally available to the general public in May 2009. [ there were various Beta versions prior to this but this was the official launch ] SP1 was released to the public in February 2011. Obviously machines bought in 2010 would not have had SP1 installed. This should ( but we know differently :) ) have been updated with Windows Updates. It worked for the majority of people but you happened to be in a minority [ large as it is ] that had problems :(

I have merged the two threads as they are confirmed as being the same machine and the problem seems to be linked. It is easier to have all relevant information in one place.

Hi DSTM, Yes, Ned is close but he says that he and his family are ok - just really heavy rain. He was, I don't know if he still is, staying indoors. Nature is a force to be reckoned with !

Hi DSTM I have seen pictures and video of Marcia. It was reported that people were evacuated too. It must have been some storm.

Hi and welcome to ExTS You are not alone. This is a very specialised skill and those people who help others actually are trained in malware / virus removal. It is not something that you can pick up as you go along by trial and error. I must state that I am not trained to help in this specialism - but we have people here who are. If you are interested in learning more then you need to read Starbuck's post on this subject. - click here The training is totally free. This is a long(ish) process and requires commitment - but the benefits are to be seen at the end of training when you can help others to clean their systems and get them running again. Take a look at Starbuck's post and if you have any other questions - just ask.

This doesn't really explain why Office and any other installed software has disappeared. Refreshing Win 8 should preserve installed software, photos etc. Recycle or Restart from the same screen does a factory reset. You would lose installed software, photos etc. Is this the case ? If you have had a virus - as you suspect - then you really need one of our experts to take a look at your system. Post the logs .....better to be sure :) I doubt that you would get anywhere with PC World. Download Magic Jellybean from here - click here - use the FREE option. When installing select the "Custom Install" and uncheck the option to install the other software. Run it. It should find the Office Product Code - if it is on the system. If, as I suspect, the system has been restored then it will not find it. There is a free option to Office - Open Office - click here - this is totally free and compatible with MS Office. You can have both on your system at the same time. If you can locate the Product Code then it will be possible to use somebody else's disk to reinstall - using your own Product Code. EDIT: Just found another option - click here There is an option to re-install Office here ......but you will need the Product Code Also found this which may prove useful - click here

Hi Leevis and welcome to ExTS :) Was this a System Restore ? This is part of Windows Office suite of software. You will need to find the disk otherwise this is an expensive loss :( [ Unless it is just the Desktop icons that have gone ? ] Win 8 and 8.1 does not need a Product Code as this is stored in the BIOS on installation. Take a look here - click here - and follow Starbuck's instructions. Post the logs back here please. You may need to use a couple of posts as there is a character limit on each post. Any problems with the above - just ask.

Hi Armageddon "Butting in" .....No problem at all - any ideas at this stage are better than the ones I have :) We have tried a "Repair Install" using a Disk that Bob has [ this didn't come with the machine ] and also with an ISO that we downloaded from Digital River. It may be worth a try. Would you like to guide Bob through the process as it is your idea ?

Bob,to your credit, you have covered far more than the vast majority of PC users ever will. Congratulations for sticking with it for so long - it is just a pity that, after all this time, we didn't find a solution :(

Hi Roy I was hoping somebody with actual experience of backup software would jump in - hence the slow response from me. There are some free options here - click here I have used EaseUs products before ( but not the particular one from the link ) If they are free - sometimes "free" means for a trial period - then it is a case of try it ....if you don't like it un-install and try another.

Hi Matt, Take one of the RAM modules out and try booting up. If it doesn't boot and you get the same blue screen replace this and remove the other module. Try booting up again. It is unlikely that both modules are faulty if this is the cause.

Hi Bob I will take a look at the log tomorrow ( remind me please :) )

Sorry I can't be of more help Ray :(

Hi Bob I had an on-line chat with M$oft Tech Support ......... everything they suggested we have tried apart from this ( I think ) click here It is worth a try. Run the FixIt then try installing SP1 from your desktop file.

That is good to hear :) If you have any more problems you know where we are.

Hi Bob I assume that the Product Code you used was the one from the sticker on the case ? It goes without saying that it needs to be typed in correctly. Zero and letter "O" are a known problem. It could be that the repair was looking for installed SP1 and didn't find it. The original tutorial stated that it had to be like-for-like. By the way - Micro-soft have removed this option now. If you wanted to download a Win-7 Home ISO it looks as if you would have to pay for it !! Look after those disks Bob :)

Hi Ray I found this - written by a Micro-soft adviser in response to a similar problem to yours. Seems odd ....but they should know what they are talking about. There were suggestions that included right clicking on the folder and looking through the options. I don't know if this is an option ...I would assume that you would have tried this already.

Hi Ray I don't use MS Outlook but try the following .... Open the email that you want to copy. Highlight all of the text > then CTRL + C to copy. Open Word and then CTRL + V will paste the text into the document. Save it in the usual way.

What was this message from Bob ?

Hi Please confirm - Is this a laptop or desktop ? I assume that these are USB mice ? If so - can you plug any other USB devices in and have them work ? If this is a laptop - does the mouse-pad work OK ?

Hi and welcome to ExTS You didn't say which site you used to download or where you were streaming from. If either of these sites were not legitimate that could be the cause of your problem. Many of the problems that we get can be attributed to "dodgy" websites. Can you boot up in Safe Mode ? Switch on .... constantly tap F8 about once per second - then select Safe Mode from the list of options available. If you can get a stable desktop do the following: Start > type in ......system restore ..... hit ENTER Follow the on-screen prompts and select a restore date just before the start of your problem. This may take a little time to complete. Make sure that the laptop has the mains power-adapter plugged in as you don't want to lose power during this operation.

Hi Bob This should be C: > Windows > System32 > Logs If it isn't you can go to a command prompt and type ........ set systemroot ....... ENTER [ gap after set ] This will give you the path defined by %systemroot%

Thanks for posting this Pete - hopefully word will get around :)

If your system is Win7 then the motherboard slots should be PCIe ...............PCI is older technology. [ unless Win7 was an upgrade onto an older system ] This is the PCI version - click here This is from the Matrox website: There is also an AGP version of this card. [ different slot again ] Post the Speccy analysis and we can take a look.

The drivers available are here: http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/support/drivers/ XP and Vista. It could be that they are embedded in Win7 It could be that the Vista ones will work OK We need a bit more research. EDIT The details are here - click here This is a PCIe x 1 card .... says it is compatible with all PCIe slots. Also says Win 7 drivers are on line ...but I still end up with XP and Vista. ???